The new tool that could make muddy paws a thing of the past

Could Kärcher's OC3 mini pressure washer be the solution to having muddy shoes or pets in your car?

British weather is notoriously unpredictable, which can make everything from a family bike ride to walking the dog a lot muddier than we'd planned for.

You'd think we'd be used to it by now, but research from Churchill Insurance found that rain is putting us off our pet walking. 88% of British dog owners said that they limit walk time if it is wet outside and a fifth avoid walking their dogs in the rain altogether, only taking them outside when they need to go to the toilet.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

If you're worried about muddy paws, children or even bikes, Kärcher's new mini pressure washer could be just thing. It's small enough to fit in a mini shed or even the boot of your car - and is designed temove mud from boots, wash off a bike and even clean the pet pooch

We decided to put it to the test, to see whether it truly was the solution to the unexpected British downpour.

Unlike a standard pressure washer which uses water pressure up to 130 bar (high enough to remove dirt from the cracks in concrete), the Kärcher OC3 Portable Cleaner pressure is much lower at 5 bar. When packed away, the OC3 is small (23.4cm x 20.1cm x 27.7cm) with the 2.8 meter spiral hose and nozzle conveniently stored away under the removable 4 litre water tank. The large handle is sturdy and comfortable to hold even with the water tank is full.

We challenged the OC3 with three different tasks, removing mud and ‘dirt’ from shoes and boots, cleaning off a bike and washing off the family dog. On the boots, the mini pressure washer was excellent. Mud and ‘dirt’ came off without a struggle, leaving them lovely and clean. The pressure was just right and would be perfect if returning to the car after tramping across fields and muddy paths.

On the bike, results were a little more modest. Mud and general grime came off without a problem but any oily marks from the chain wouldn’t shift. As the OC3 doesn’t take detergent, it was back to a good old bucket & sponge with soapy water before a rinse off with the Kärcher.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

Our colleague's dog, Sandy, rather enjoyed getting his coat and paws cleaned with the washer. As the pressure isn’t high and it's not too noisy, he happily sat there while being rinsed, shampooed and showered off. Due to his fur being rather thick, and the pond Sandy chose to swam in being rather unpleasant, we did need to refill the tank at one point to enable us to get him fully clean.

The OC3 has a rechargeable battery which will give you about 15 minutes of cleaning from 3 hours of charging. It’s not a huge amount of time but easily long enough for washing off walking boots, wellies, football and hockey boots before getting back into the car, or giving a muddy mountain bike a clean at the end of a ride.

Accessories are available to buy, such as a fur cleaning brush, suction hose and filter and a microfiber cloth.

Overall, if you’re just planning on using the Kärcher OC3 Portable Cleaner at home, £129.99 is probably more than you'd want to spend as a garden hose with a spray gun will probably do the job. But if you’re often out and about and end up with mud in the foot wells of your car, this could be a very handy piece of kit.

Good Housekeeping, Part of the Hearst UK Fashion & Beauty Network
Good Housekeeping participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites.